


Inheritance

by CaptainDemetrios



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Mentions of Death, Mentions of genocide, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 14:39:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9445874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDemetrios/pseuds/CaptainDemetrios
Summary: Zael finds out his grandfather was a Jedi, and is sent on a quest to retrieve his lightsaber.





	

**Author's Note:**

> All Original Characters are from this AU: loaded-with-sin.tumblr.com. Highly recommend giving that blog a browse before or after this fic!
> 
> All original characters excluding Brutal were written by Theload.tumblr.com and Icarus-this-bitch.tumblr.com  
> I have partial custody of Zael. 
> 
> Takes place post the new trilogy (but written before 8 is even out).
> 
> Enjoy!

Martin was coloring quietly while Zael and Stela talked at the table. In relative peacetime they would meet to share coffee, news, and talk about their families. Martin looked very focused about whatever he was drawing. 

 

“What are you working on there, baby?” Stela looked over at her son. 

 

Martin didn’t raise his head, very intent on whatever he was working on.

 

“Lightsaber” He moved back a little so she could see. Zael took a peek too. It obviously wasn’t the neatest of drawings, but it was clearly a saber. 

 

“It’s double sided,” Zael observed. “Cool.”

 

“Is that Rey’s lightsaber?” Stela asked lightly

 

“No.”

 

“Whose is it?”

 

“The ghost with Zael.” 

 

Zael nearly choked on his coffee.

 

“What ghost with Zael?!” Zael sputtered, wiping coffee off his pants. “There’s no ghost with Zael! The only Jedi I know are you guys.”

 

“Why would a Force Ghost be following Zael, Martin?” Stela asked, peering at the drawing. It was definitely a light side saber- in fact it seemed even more pure in light than anything she had seen before. “It’s definitely a Jedi’s saber.”

 

Martin nodded a confirmation. “He’s Zael’s grandpa.”

 

“I don’t have a grandpa. I mean, no one in my family was a Jedi. That’d be impossible, right?”

 

Stela just gave him a deadpan look. 

 

“You have met several Skywalkers.”

 

“Well, yeah, but-- You know, I didn’t… I mean, how many Jedi could have broken their oath?”

 

“He says it was after the Temple was destroyed.” Martin said. “He didn’t feel like a Jedi anymore. He didn’t feel like a person anymore.”

 

Stela and Zael said nothing, staring at Martin. 

 

Martin was quiet for a minute too before he said, “He recovered, but after he had already conceived Zael’s dad.”

 

Zael shook his head. “What does he want from me, Martin?”

 

Martin held up the drawing, holding it out to Zael. Zael took it and looked at Stela, then back to Martin.

 

“He wants me…?”

 

“He wants you to have his lightsaber. He told me where it is. You have to go get it.” 

 

Zael looked down at the drawing. It was barely recognizable as a saber, but something about the drawing was familiar to him. Something inside him felt broken without the lightsaber.

 

“I have to find it.” Zael looked up. “He’s here now right? You can talk to him. I.. I’m going to need Martin to lead me to the saber.” 

 

Stela frowned. “Wait. Let me talk to the others first. See what they know about your grandfather. One of the others might know where the saber is too.”

 

“The other… ghosts.”

 

“The other Jedi.”

 

“Ghosts.”

 

“Well, yes.”

 

Zael looked at Martin again “What’s.. What’s my grandfather’s name?”

 

“Brutal.”

 

Zael and Stela stared again.

 

“He says everyone reacts to his name like that. I don’t think that’s very nice.” Martin frowned. 

  
Stela smiled and kissed his head. “My sweet boy. Of course it’s not nice.”

 

“So he’s  _ probably  _ a Jedi.” Zael said nervously. 

 

“He is a Jedi!” Martin said.

 

“I’ll talk to Master Luke.” Stela said.

 

-

 

Zael paced the cabin as Stela flew to Luke and his new Jedi order. Martin had described the ghost as  **_with_ ** Zael. He had never given much thought to the Force. No one in his family was Force Sensitive. At least as far as he knew- his kids were still toddlers. 

 

But now that Martin put the idea in his head, Zael could feel… a presence. It wasn’t anything clear, it wasn’t a vision or even a somewhat vivid dream. It was a feeling that brought goosebumps to his skin, a feeling like someone was there watching.

 

Zael couldn’t say if he found that comforting or not.

 

His grandfather was a Jedi. What did that mean, to Zael? His grandfather was a Jedi, and he wanted Zael to have his lightsaber. Why? Zael was a diplomat, not a fighter. He couldn’t even use a staff, nevermind something as dangerous as a saber. Zael was not Jedi material. He was hardly worthy of a Jedi’s legacy. Why had his grandfather decided he was?

 

-

 

Luke greeted Stela with a tight hug, while Zael watched Martin on the ship. 

 

“What brings you here?” he asked jovially. 

 

“Martin has been seeing another ghost. I wanted to see what you or the others know about him.”

 

Luke nodded and gestured for her to follow him into the temple.

 

“A Jedi?” Luke asked. Yoda, Obi-Wan and Anakin appeared besides them as they walked into the temple and sat at its center. 

  
“So he claims.” Stela said, crossing her arms as she sat. “Martin drew a lightsaber the ghost says is his. It was a  _ very  _ light-aligned saber.” 

 

“If your son sees light, why do you doubt?” Obi Wan asked. 

 

“His name is Brutal.” Stela sighed. Luke’s eyebrows raised. 

 

“Brutal, yes. Know him well, I did.” Yoda hummed.

 

“The name does sound familiar.” Anakin said.

 

“Wasn’t he one of the temple guards?” Obi Wan recalled.

 

“Mmh, he was.” Yoda said. “A hard journey to the Light, he had. Very proud to be a Jedi, he was.”

 

“So he is a Jedi.” Stela breathed. 

 

“He was.” Obi Wan nodded. “He was a Zabrak, from a clan controlled by the Night Sisters. His clan brothers were sold into service to the Dark Side.”

 

“Escaped, he did.” Yoda nodded. 

 

“From a Dark Side aligned clan.” Stela frowned, crossing her arms again. “The saber Martin drew was the purest Light I’ve ever seen. But if he was raised in the Dark Side…”

 

“Worked with him to control his anger, I did. Tossed aside by the other padwan, he was. But a force of good, he became. A master of the Light Side, he is.” Yoda said.

 

Stela relaxed her arms again and nodded. 

 

“Then we’re going to get his lightsaber back.”

  
  
  


However, once Stela returned to the ship she received an urgent message calling her away on business. 

 

“Fine, you and Martin will have to go with Ursa.” She told Zael. Zael nearly choked on his coffee again. 

 

“Your sister?”

 

“Do you know another Ursa?”

 

“Is that wise…?” He asked carefully.

 

“She can defend you if anything goes wrong, and she’s Martin’s aunt. He trusts her. And so do I. Why? Do you think there will be a problem?” She gave him a look that made even sith lords tremble.

 

“No,” Zael said quickly, “no problem at all.”

 

-

 

Zael waited nervously with Martin as Ursa’s ship landed. Martin held his hand, but he kept letting go to wipe off Zael’s sweat. 

 

Zael did not know the younger Cazador well. He knew she was strong in the Force and… reformed. He had heard many stories about her temperament- none that comforted him. He also wasn’t comforted by the few times he had met her.

 

But the ship landed and Ursa Cazador stepped out. 

 

“Martin!” She grinned. 

 

“Tia!” He ran to her and was scooped into a tight hug. Zael stepped forward too and cleared his throat.

 

“Your Highness.” He said respectfully. 

 

“Zael.” She replied, less respectfully.

 

“I appreciate you accompanying us, Your Highness.” Zael said. “We only have a very… approximate map.”

 

Martin held up the map he had drawn, presumably with Brutal’s guidance. However, it was still only as useful as a map drawn by a blind six year old could be. 

 

“Right…” Ursa said. “Maybe Brutal can tell us some coordinates of the nearby systems..? Help narrow down this map.”

 

Martin tilted his head as if listening to someone, then nodded.

 

“Brutal says he can do that.” 

 

They boarded Ursa’s ship and took off.

 

-

 

Martin listed coordinates as Brutal told him, and Ursa laid out a course. 

 

“This should take us to the right star system at least.” Ursa said.

 

“Good. Thank you, Your Highness.” Zael sighed. Martin tilted his head again. 

“Tia isn’t a Sith.” He said suddenly. Ursa and Zael turned to him sharply. 

 

“Sorry…?” Zael asked. Martin frowned. 

 

“Brutal says, there’s a great darkness in Tia Ursa. Anger and Darkness, but struggling with Light and Love, like a Sith Lord he knew.” 

 

“Tell Brutal to shut up.” Ursa grumbled.

  
  


Silence fell over the ship as they continued to Brutal’s lightsaber. They came out of hyperspace and Ursa brought up a map of the system. 

  
“So it’s somewhere here?” Ursa gestured to the entire map. Zael tried to compare it to Martin’s map, but it was still rather useless.

  
“Uh…” Zael said helpfully. 

 

“Is there somewhere hot?” Martin asked suddenly. “Brutal said it’s somewhere hot.”

 

“Hot? This is a dead system!” Ursa said. “Nothing’s been hot here since the Clone Wars.”

 

“But that’s when Brutal would have been here.” Zael said, peering at the system map. “There.” He pointed. “Most of that planet is ash. There must have been frequent fires or eruptions there. That’s where the saber is.” 

 

“That’s a big planet, Zael. How are we supposed to find the saber?” Ursa asked. Martin looked to Zael too. Zael stared at the planet ahead. 

 

“I know where to go.” He said confidently. He could almost feel a hand on his shoulder. 

 

\--

 

Zael directed Ursa as she landed the ship. Every other direction was followed by an apology or a “Your Highness”, until finally Ursa said, “You know, just Ursa is fine.”

 

They landed outside the now inactive volcano, on top of layers and layers of ash. 

 

“There’s a cave on the North side.” Zael and Martin said simultaneously. 

 

“Alright.” Ursa took a breath and picked up Martin. “To the cave then.”

 

They hiked around the volcano and found the cave. The entrance had been blocked by a cave in. Ursa put Martin down and pushed the rocks aside with the Force.

 

As soon as the cave entrance was clear, all three of them shivered. There was a darkness that clawed it’s way out of the cave. Even Zael, barely Force sensitive at all, could feel it. There were lines of scorch marks left by lightsabers all the way into the cave- the walls, the floor, the ceiling. 

 

Ursa picked Martin up again and Martin hid against her shoulder.

 

“I got you, Runt.” She whispered.

 

They walked into the cave, deeper and downwards.

 

They soon reached a clearing- lava had dripped down from the ceiling and hardened there, giving the room odd and sinister looking pillars. Half of the room was covered in dark black ash. In the ash was the lightsaber, and beside that a pile of rocks. Zael knew the rocks were a burial. 

 

Zael could feel tension in the air, they all could. It was hard to breath past the anger that filled the cave. 

 

Brutal appeared to them finally. He was taller than Zael, wrapped in Jedi sentinel robes, holding the mask in one hand and a cane in the other. There were grotesque scars covering his chest and face, but his appearance wasn’t alarming or scary. His presence was soothing in a way Zael could not describe.

 

Brutal stood calmly beside his saber.

 

“What happened?” Zael demanded. “Something terrible happened here. Something awful and, and… Dark surrounds your lightsaber. Why?” 

 

Ursa seemed impressed by Zael’s uncharacteristic outspokenness. 

 

Brutal met his gaze calmly.

 

“I fought my brother here.” He said. “He was raised in the Dark Side of the Force. He was an apprentice to a Sith Lord, until he was cast aside for another. Still, his lord ordered the Jedi killed, ordered my brother to take care of me personally. He knew how to find me. I met him here, away from civilians that could have been hurt. We fought, but I refused to kill him. His anger…” Brutal shook his head. “He would not strike me down, so I stepped back into the fire.” 

 

Zael could see the scene around them as Brutal described it. He saw two Zabrak, one cloaked in Light and the other in Dark, fighting furiously through the cave. Fire burned even hotter than their battle. Brutal turning off his saber and stepping back. The other Zabrak, reaching out to stop him, burning his hand and recoiling again. 

 

“He buried you. Why?” Zael asked. “You said he was filled with hate.”

 

“He was, and he was not. Much like your friend, there. I cannot say why, but he buried me and left my saber behind. He claimed no trophy.”

 

Zael walked carefully forward and picked up the saber. “Why wouldn’t he kill you?” he asked, not looking up from the saber.

 

“He was my brother. Had I not escaped, our fates would be the same. And we both knew that we were the last survivors of our clan, the rest already wiped out by his master. He did not wish to be the puppet that destroyed the very last of his brothers.”

 

Brutal disappeared then, leaving Zael, Ursa and Martin alone in the dark cave. 

 

-

 

Zael didn’t speak as they went back to the ship. He was silent as Ursa piloted them far away from the grave of his grandfather. He held the lightsaber tight  in both hands. 

 

“He wants his clan to get a second chance at life.” Martin said, yawning. “That’s why he wanted you to have the saber.”

  
“He said that?”

 

“No.” Martin closed his eyes. “I can tell though.” 

 

He was asleep before Zael could ask anything more.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to comment!


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